Last Epoch has five different Base Classes to pick from when beginning a new playthrough. Within these choices is the Primalist Class, a tanky character who wields the power of nature and animals. This Class can be customized through Skill selection and Nodes, so if you’re wondering about the best Primalist Skills in Last Epoch, we’ve got you covered.
Best Primalist Skills to Use in Last Epoch
In Last Epoch, the Primalist is a tanky Base Class that utilizes the power of nature and animals, summoning pet mentions to help you take down enemies, or wielding fierce elemental nature-based attacks, such as earthquakes, or lightning storms. As you progress your Primalist, you will be able to choose from one of three Mastery Classes – Druid, Beastmaster, or Shaman. Each of these Mastery Classes amplifies unique skills or traits of the Primalist, and can be further customized to establish a specific strategy or playstyle through Skill Trees and Nodes to establish synergy across your build.
Gathering Storm
| Class | Skill Type | Unlocked | Damage Type | Mana Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primalist | Melee Attack | Primalist Level 2 Skill | Lightning | 0 | Strike at your enemy with a mighty lightning powered storm. When you use Gathering Storm and hit at least one enemy, you gain a Storm Stack. Every second you expend a Storm Stack to cause a Storm Bolt to strike a nearby enemy. This interval is reduced by 2% for every stack you currently have. |
Gathering Storm offers a lot of potential for many different Primalist builds, due to establishing a lot of synergy with many different Skills. Most significantly, Gathering Storm can be paired with Maelstrom and various Skill Tree Nodes to create a huge auto bomber-like asset, providing a strong basis for damage and AOE targeting.
Rending Vortex will increase your critical hit rate per stack of Maelstrom. Manafused Storm will enable you to gain Mana per active Storm Stack when directly using Gathering Storm. Tempest Weapon will enable Gathering Storm to deal extra Spell damage per melee damage when wielding a mace or axe. Thunderous Strikes enable you to negate enemy Lightning Resistance, which will make Gathering Storm hit just as hard on any enemy, despite this obstacle.
Warcry
| Class | Skill Type | Unlocked | Damage Type | Mana Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primalist | Stun | Primalist Level 10 Skill | – | 24 | Unleash a mighty roar that knocks back nearby enemies and stuns them for 1.5 seconds. Rares and bosses are stunned for half as long. |
Warcry can be used in a few different ways, which makes it a handy addition to many different builds of each of the Primalist Mastery Classes. However, a favorable technique in particular focuses on utilizing Nodes that can convert the effects to Cold damage and freezing, which enables you to use it in quick bursts to target multiple enemies, or even defensively to give yourself a chance to pivot when put under pressure.
One of the first Nodes that should be considered is Juggernaut, which makes you invincible for one second after using Warcry. This is the perfect window to reposition yourself as needed or a set of other skills that you need to keep yourself alive and dish out finishing blows. In addition to this, Breath of Eterra will restore HP when using Warcry, further improving your survivability.
Whirlpool will automatically cast Maelstrom whenever you cast Warcry, with potential that can be amplified further via the several Cold damage-based Nodes. Jormun’s Wrath will now freeze enemies on impact, applying Frostbite chance. Heart of Rime will cause Frostbite to stack on affected enemies, making this much more of an impact. Frost Claw increases your Cold damage, which when paired with the Whirlpool node, will make Warcry a very potent Skill. Lastly, Bringer of Winter improves your critical hit chance when using Warcry, which amplifies the overall power.
Summon Thorn Totem
| Class | Skill Type | Unlocked | Damage Type | Mana Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primalist | Spell | Primalist Level 4 Skill | Physical | 18 | Summons a totem that fires thorns at nearby enemies. You can have a maximum of two thorn totems by default. |
Thorn Totem is one of the most accessible Skills to begin assembling your build with, as it provides some brilliant utility and synergy to build your other Skills around. Most significantly, Thorn Totem’s Shred Armour Node deals increased elemental damage, which can be stacked on targets. This comes in particularly handy for boss battles, providing you with an upper hand at dealing more damage.
Thorn Totem also works brilliantly with the Ascendant Circle passive, which increases Spell damage per active totem you have on the battlefield. Through the Forrested Expanse Node, you can automatically summon all five Totems paired with the Grove Mind Node – which lets you summon your max number of Totems at once. This will, in turn, provide significant perks to the Ascendant Circle Node, improving your Spellcasting x5. This effect applies for all damage dealing Spells no matter the type, so this can allow you to dish out constantly heavy damage while your Totems continue picking at enemies.
Werebear Form
| Class | Skill Type | Unlocked | Damage Type | Mana Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Druid | Transformation | Druid Mastery Skill | – | 0 | Transform into a ferocious werebear, increasing your physical capabilities and gaining four new abilities. Your Mana is replaced with Rage while in werebear form. When your Rage reaches zero, you automatically transform back into your human form. Your starting Rage is equal to your maximum Mana. Rage slowly decays over time at a constant rate. |
Werebear Form has the opportunity to operate as the bread and butter of many Druid builds, especially when further tweaked and enhanced through careful Node selection. This is especially true when utilizing minions, such as Totems or Spriggan Form, as the Wild Command Node enables your minions to deal increased damage whenever you use Werebear Form’s Maul attack and successfully hit at least one opponent.
Thorn Totems can cast Entangling Roots, while Spriggan Form is capable of proccing Poisonous Vine. This means that the damage output for all of these minions is affected by Werebear Form, which helps to create constant damage increase and a good melee playstyle with support from minions at various ranges.
Maelstrom
| Class | Skill Type | Unlocked | Damage Type | Mana Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primalist | Spell | Primalist Level 12 Skill | Cold | 17 | Surrounds you with a freezing Maelstrom that deals Cold damage over time to nearby enemies. Can be cast repeatedly to create multiple maelstroms at once. Each Maelstrom lasts seven seconds. |
As indicated through the Skills mentioned above, Maelstrom is a very flexible Skill that fits nicely into many builds to synergize with several different abilities. Most significantly, Maelstrom works brilliantly with Warcry, as you can use the various Warcry Nodes to increase Cold damage and create Frostbite stacks on cast, as well as freezing enemies for a chance to deal even more damage. Maelstrom can also be paired well with Gathering Storm to alternate damage types and cover a large section of terrain with damage, as well as synergizing with Storm Stacks through Manafused Storm.
That’s everything you need to know about the best Primalist Skills in Last Epoch. For more helpful gameplay guides, check out the rest of our content here at Twinfinite. We have a variety of different topics to help you progress through your adventure through the timelines of Eterra and establish a strong build, such as the best Acolyte Skills or Rogue Skills.
